Motorists and Riske Creek residents west of Williams Lake helped a log truck driver out of his truck after the vehicle crashed with a load of logs Tuesday afternoon on Highway 20. Racquel Russell photo

Loggers pull door off wreckage to get to Cariboo crash victim

Witnesses say a log truck driver is lucky to be alive after his truck crashed on Highway 20 Tuesday.

“We called in for a Medevac and landed it on the highway,” said Mike Elvin, who lives at the Old Riske Creek School House. “It’s all still in place as we speak. We got the highway all cleaned off but there are logs on each side of the road, the truck’s completely dismantled inside and it’s an absolute miracle the man’s alive.”

Elvin said it was just before noon when he heard a ‘massive bang,’ looked out and saw a logging truck was flipped upside down.

“I’m right in front of where the accident took place. It blew a front tire and went off into the ditch. We had logs scattered across the highway and it took out the gates and fences out front of our place.”

Elvin, other local residents and fellow truck drivers rushed to the scene to help.

“We got our power saws out and we started bucking an access on the passenger side door and then we got another logging truck and with a chain around the door we were able to pop the door off. The logging truck driver was curled up in a ball on the passenger side of the seat upside down.”

They removed the driver from the truck and by then the RCMP, Emergency Health Services B.C. and Central Cariboo Search and Rescue had arrived.

Elvin said the truck was travelling east toward Williams Lake from out west when the crash occurred.

There were no other vehicles on the road at the time, which Elvin said was fortunate.

“It would have been an absolute mess. It’s a good-sized ditch, probably about 10 feet deep.”